Trami brings heavy rain, landslides

NO LET-UP:The Central Weather Bureau said that even after the storm moves away today, more rain is forecast for the center and south through tomorrow morning

By Shelley Shan and Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporters

Chen said that Trami is expected to move away from Taiwan proper by early this morning if its speed remains unchanged, but that heavy rain in central and southern parts of the nation would continue after the storm leaves.

“Rain in these two regions is expected to continue for some time, possibly until Friday morning,” he said.

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who returned home early yesterday from his trip to the Caribbean and Paraguay, urged all local government heads to take extra precautions.

Ma said Taipei should strengthen its anti-flooding measures as Trami was following a path similar to that of Typhoon Nari in 2004, which caused serious flooding in the city.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the city has prepared enough sandbags and enhanced flood-prevention barriers in mountainous areas and low-lying areas to prevent serious flooding.

According to Taipei’s Disaster Response Center, the heaviest accumulated rainfall in the city was on Yangmingshan, where more than 300mm had fallen since Tuesday night. While there were several incidents of rainwater accumulation, no flooding was reported in the city.

Yeh Chun-hsin (葉俊興), a division chief in Taipei’s Fire Department, said that about 2,000 households in Zhongshan District (中山) lost power, but the Taiwan Power Co (台電) had fixed the problem.

Hau inspected the Zhitan Water Treatment Plant near the Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫) to ensure that the turbidity of water is at a safe level.

The plant, which began operations in June, is the city’s sixth water treatment plant. Hau said the plant will help ensure that the reservoir continues to offer clean water to the 6 million residents of Taipei and New Taipei City (新北市).

When asked about his administration’s decision to cancel work and school yesterday despite the lack of heavy rains or strong wind, he said the decision had been made in tandem with New Taipei City and Keelung based on the weather bureau’s forecast at 9pm on Tuesday night.

“The forecast suggested that the rainfall would reach 350mm today, and wind gusts would be reach more than level 10, which meets the criteria for school and work cancelation,” Hau said.

“It is important that we take precautions and do not overlook Trami’s power,” he said.

The cities agreed in June last year to make joint decisions on when to cancel school and work days for typhoons or tropical storms to avoid inconveniencing people who commute between the cities.